WMT (Unofficial) Dragon Blood Variant Contest

[calvin]

I'm guessing the solid game plan is gonna score a lot more points than a gold sticker . I'm gonna give it my all tho

 

[JSquared]

I've been out of town celebrating my birthday, so I've was incommunicado at the finish of the contest.

Thank you all very much! My wife (Weeping Willow Wines, Manager of Quality Control) said it was a winner. The SST was one of the first few variations I made from the Dragon Blood Recipe. Johnna has been begging me for years to make another. Everyone knows I hate working with strawberries, and I was expecting to be edged out by someone. You are all very good wine makers, and I appreciate you all very much. What a great competition!

Now for the recipe...<drum roll>

Sweet Strawberry Tart
5/31/14 - To a 7 gallon fermenter, I added...20 cups of granulater sugar, 1 cup medium toasted French oak, 3 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 tsp yeast energizer, 3 tsp pectic enzyme, 1 tsp wine tannin, 96oz of Real Lemon Juice, and water up to 5 gallons. Stirred vigorously until all was dissolved and well mixed. Attached brew belt for warmth. SG = 1.085. Added 15 lbs of thawed frozen strawberries in two mesh bags. Total volume came out a little over 6 gallons. Squeezed and stirred every day per DB recipe. Notes: I used more lemon juice than I normally do in my DB recipe because I wanted the final product to be nice and tart.

6/1/14 - Pitched 71B-1122 yeast.

6/7/14 - SG = 0.992. Added 1/4 tsp sulphite, 3 tsp sorbate, and 96oz ("Big Bucket") Strawberry Daiquiri Mix. Topped up with about 750ml original Dragon Blood. Added Super Klear

6/23/14 - Racked. After tasting, added 4 cups of sugar and 2oz Watkins Strawberry Extract. Added two drops of red food coloring. Note: I wanted a fuller strawberry flavor than I got with the fruit and mix, thus the added extract. I also wanted a deeper hue of pinkish-red, so added a little bit of color.

6/30/14 - Racked, filtered, and bottled, only to watch most of it disappear over 4th of July weekend.

Once again, thank you all very much! It has been a pleasure!

I am working on the recipe now and have a question. In your directions on 6/7/14 you said that you added the strawberry daiquiri mix and topped up with Dragon Blood then added Superkleer. Did you do this in the fermenter or did you rack to a carboy first? I've been following your directions to the letter and couldn't decide what you intended. I normally rack to a carboy at this point but I wasn't sure, any help would be great.

Thanks, Jackie

 

[Arne]

I am working on the recipe now and have a question. In your directions on 6/7/14 you said that you added the strawberry daiquiri mix and topped up with Dragon Blood then added Superkleer. Did you do this in the fermenter or did you rack to a carboy first? I've been following your directions to the letter and couldn't decide what you intended. I normally rack to a carboy at this point but I wasn't sure, any help would be great.

Thanks, Jackie

Jackie,
Dave has gone walkabout on us. He is hiking the Appalachin (sp?) trail and hasn't been around much. He is probably not going to get back to you for a while.I am guessing he probably added this in the carboy. He is trying to clear it after adding the strawberry daiquiri and it is going to have to sit for a while to get clear. Arne.

 

[JSquared]

Jackie,

Dave has gone walkabout on us. He is hiking the Appalachin (sp?) trail and hasn't been around much. He is probably not going to get back to you for a while.I am guessing he probably added this in the carboy. He is trying to clear it after adding the strawberry daiquiri and it is going to have to sit for a while to get clear. Arne.

Thanks, I put it in a carboy added everything and I'm watching my beautiful strawberry smoothie liquid and hoping it clearing into clear wine!

 

[Arne]

It should clear just fine with time. If not or if you are in a hurry you can hit it with clearing agents. Don't get too excited if you loose the red strawberry color. It tends to loose the red as time goes on. If you loose it and want some red back again, a little food coloring should help your color. Arne.